- 


T  H  K 


SONG  OF  THE  SOWEK. 


BY 

WILLIAM   CLTLLEN   BRYANT. 


Illustrated  with  Farttj-twa  Engravings  on  Wood, 


N  E  W    Y  O  K  K  : 
1).    A  P  P  L  E  T  O  N    &    COM?  A  N  V. 

MDCCCLXXI 


ENTEKED,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1870,  by 

D.   APPLETON  &  CO., 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington 


"  The  maples  redden  in  the  sun, 


"  Rest,  faithful  plough," 


"  Loose  the  tired  steer," 


" —  early  bluebirds  sing," 


GRISWOI.D. 


FKNN. 


"The  harvest  that  o'erflows  the  vale,"  Hows. 


"  —  from  the  distant  grange," 


"  —  the  millstone  hums 
Down  in  the  willowy  vale,"  FKNN. 


ENGRAVER. 

Quartly. 
Harley. 


HKNNKSSY.  Linlon. 


BUSHING.  Fihner. 


'The  song  of  him  who  binds  the  grain,"  HEXXKSSY.  Linton. 


"  —  harvest  for  the  tented  field," 


HOMER. 


Karsf. 


Harley. 


Karsl. 


10 


11 


12 


Langndye.  1 3 


H 


15 


17 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


' —  feel  ye  not  your  fingers  thrill," 


NKHLIG. 


"  —  chieftains  to  the  war  shall  lead,"  NEIIUG. 


"  And  lay  the  sword  away," 


Hows. 


' —  strew  with  free  and  joyous  sweep,"  FEXX. 


"  The  roof-trees  of  our  swarming  race,"  FEXX. 

"  The  lengthening  street,"  FEXX. 

"  For  the  brave  men  that  climb  the  mast,"         FEXX. 


"  —  for  those  who  throw 
The  clanking  shuttle  to  and  fro," 


ESGRAVKR. 

Filmer 


Flowed  till  the  herds,  on  Mincio's  brink,"       HOMER.  Edmonds. 


Filmer. 


Lintoii 


'•  Oh  strew,  with  pausing,  shuddering  hand,"      HEXNESSY.  Linton. 


Harley. 


"  Strew  the  bright  seed  for  those  who  tear 

The  matted  sward,"  HENXESSY.  Linton. 

"  And  those  whose  sounding  axes  gleam,"  HENXESSY.  Linton. 

"  And  him  who  breaks  the  quarry-ledge,"  HEXNESSY.  Karst. 

"  And  him  who  with  the  steady  sledge,"  HEXXESSY.  Linton. 


HOMER. 


Harley. 
Harley.. 
Filmer. 

Karst. 


PAGE 

18 


20 


2-1 


24 


2o 


25 


26 


27 


28 


29 


LIST     OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


ENORAVKB  PAGE 


A  pallid  sisterhood,  that  keep 
The  lonely  lamp  alight," 


HEXXESSY.  Linton. 


• —  murmuring  harp  and  viol's  strings,"  HEXNESSY.  Linton. 


"  Welcome  of  the  wedding  guest," 

"  Shipwrecked  men, 
Who,  hunger-worn," 

"  Wanderers  lost  in  woodlands  drear, 
" —  close  alleys  of  the  town," 


HEXXESSY.  Linton. 


Filmer. 

Lniigridge. 

Linton. 


PKRKIXS. 


HEXXESSY. 


In  chill  roof-chambers,  bleak  an.l  bare,"          HEXXESSY  Linton. 


Fill  the  rich  ears  that  shade  the  mould,"          Hows. 


"  The  mystic  loaf  that  crowns  the  boar:!,"          Hows. 


;  The  seed  is  in  its  winter  bed," 


GRISWOLO. 


"  As  when  the  mother,  from  her  breast,"  HEXXESSY. 


''  The  tempest  now  may  s:nita," 


"  Of  winter  breathe  the  bitter  cold," 


;  Shall  walk  again  the  genial  year," 


FEXX. 


GRISWOLD. 


Kdmowls 

Fay. 

Harley. 

Linton. 


GRISWOLD.  Linton. 


Quarili/. 
Edmonds. 


30 


31 


32 


33 


35 


36 


37 


38 


39 


40 


41 


42 


LIST    OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


SUBJECT.  ABTIST. 

"  The  life  which  wakes  and  that  which  sleeps,"  Hows. 

"  —  watches  o'er  the  sparrow's  nest,"  Hows. 

"  Wherever,  o'er  the  waiting  earth, 

Roads  wind  and  rivers  flow,"  FENN. 

" —  mighty  marts  beyond  the  sea,"  FENN 

"  —  where  palm-groves  sound,"  FENN. 


ENGRAVER.  PAGE 

Harley  44 

Langridge.  45 


Harley. 
Harley. 
Klngdon. 


46 


47 


^.^••Jf  X*"''-?-^ -\       '  '  • 


THE   SOKG  OF   THE   SOWER 


THE  maples  redden  in  the  sun ; 
In  autumn  gold  the  beeches  stand ; 


M 

~-<x.>^sf»-/  ' 
Rest,  faithful  plough, 

thy  work  is  done      . 

Upon  the  teeming  land.    - 

Bordered  with  trees  whose 
gay  leaves  fly 

On  every  breath  that  sweep.- 
the  sky, 

The  fresh  dark  acres  fur- 
rowed lie, 

And  ask  the  sowers  hand. 


Loose  the  tired  steer  and  let 

him  go 
To  pasture  where  the  gentians 

blow, 
And  we,  who  till  the  grateful 

ground, 
Fling  we  the  golden  shower 

around. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


II. 

Fling  wide  the  generous  grain ;  we  fling 
O'er  the  dark  mould  the  green  of  spring. 
For  thick  the  emerald  blades  shall  grow, 
When  first  the  March  winds  melt  the  snow, 
And  to  the  sleeping  flowers,  below, 
The  early  bluebirds  sing. 


Fling  wide  the  grain  ;  we  give  the  fields 

The  ears  that  nod  in  summer's  gale, 
The  shining  stems  that  summer  gilds, 


The  harvest  that  o'erflows  the  vale, 
And  swells,  an  amber  sea,  between 
The  full-leaved  woods,  its  shores  of  green. 


Hark  !  from  the  murmuring  clods  I  Lear 
Glad  voices  of  the  coming  year ; 
The  song  of  him  who  binds  the  grain, 
The  shout  of  those  that  load  the  wain, 


And  from  the  distant  grange  there  comes 
The  clatter  of  the  thresher's  flail, 


,      i  *  i  •  i    •  •,  .    '       •,       -'  ;  -    '•"  •  '          ,  --     ^*>w 

v-, 

i^ 


• 


And  steadily  the 
millstone  hums 

Down  in  the 
willowy  vale.     ' 


16 


III. 


Fling  wide  the  golden  shower ;  we  trust 
The  strength  of  armies  to  the  dust, 
This  peaceful  lea  may  haply  yield 
Its  harvest  for  the  tented  field. 


Ha !  feel  ye  not  your  fingers  thrill, 
As  o'er  them,  in  the  yellow  grains. 

Glide  the  warm  drops  of  blood  that  fill, 
For  mortal  strife,  the  warrior's  veins ; 


Such  as,  on  Solferino's  day, 
Slaked  the  brown  sand  and  flowed  away ; — 
Flowed  till  the  herds,  on  Mincio's  brink, 
Snuffed  the  red  stream  and  feared  to  drink ; — 
Blood  that  in  deeper  pools  shall  lie, 

On  the  sad  earth,  as  time  grows  gray, 
When  men  by  deadlier  arts  shall  die, 
And  deeper  darkness  blot  the  sky 
Above  the  thundering  fray ; 


And  realms,  that  bear  the  battle-cry, 

Shall  sicken  with  dismay  ; 
And  chieftains  to  the  war  shall  lead 
Whole  nations,  with  the  tempest's  speed, 
To  perish  in  a  day  ; — 


Till  man,  by  love  and  mercy  taught, 
Shall  rue  the  wreck  his  fury  wrought, 
And  lay  the  sword  away. 


Oli  strew,  with  pausing,  shuddering  hand, 
The  seed  upon  the  helpless  land, 
As  if,  at  every  step,  ye  cast 
The  pelting  hail  and  riving  blast. 


Nay,  strew,  with  free  and  joyous  sweep, 
The  seed  upon  the  expecting  soil ; 

For  hence  the  plenteous  year  shall  heap 
The  garners  of  the  men  who  toil. 


Strew  the  bright  seed  for  those  who  tear 
The  matted  sward  with  spade  and  share, 


And  those  whose  sounding  axes  gleam 
Beside  the  lonely  forest-stream, 
Till  its  broad  banks  lie  bare  ; 


And  him  who  breaks  the  quarry-ledge, 

"With  hammer-blows,  plied  quick  and  strong, 


And  him  who,  with  the  steady  sledge, 
Smites  the  shrill  anvil  all  day  long. 


Sprinkle  the  furrow's  even  trace 

For  those  whose  toiling  hands  uprear 

The  roof-trees  of  our  swarming  race, 
By  grove  and  plain,  by  stream  and 


mere ; 


Who  forth,  from  crowded  city,  lead 
The  lengthening  street,  and  overlay 

Green  orchard-plot  and  grassy  mead 
With  pavement  of  the  murmuring  way. 


Cast,  with  full  hands,  the  harvest  cast, 
For  the  brave  men  that  climb  the  mast, 
When  to  the  billow  and  the  blast 

It  swings  and  stoops,  with  fearful  strain, 
And  bind  the  fluttering  mainsail  fast, 
Till  the  tossed  bark  shall  sit  again, 
Safe  as  a  sea-bird  in  the  main. 

88 


V. 


Fling  wide  the  grain  for  those  who  throw 

The  clanking  shuttle  to  and  fro, 

In  the  long  row  of  humming  rooms, 


And  into  ponderous  masses  wind 
The  web  that,  from  a  thousand  looms, 
Comes  forth  to  clothe  mankind. 


•i 


Strew,  with  free  sweep,  the  grain  for  them 

By  whom  the  busy  thread, 
Along  the  garment's  even  hem 

And  winding  seam,  is  led ; 
A  pallid  sisterhood,  that  keep 


The  lonely  lamp  alight, 
In  strife  with  weariness  and  sleep, 

Beyond  the  middle  night. 
Large  part  be  theirs  in  what  the  year 
Shall  ripen  for  the  reaper  here. 


VI. 

Still,  strew,  with  joyous  hand,  the  wheat 
On  the  soft  mould  beneath  our  feet, 

For  even  now  I  seem 
To  hear  a  sound  that  lightly  rings 
From  murmuring  harp  and  viol's  strings, 

As  in  a  summer  dream. 


. 

The  welcome  ot    the  wedding 

guest, 
The    bridegroom's    look    of 

bashful  pride, 
The  faint  smile  of  the  pallid 

bride, 


And  bridemaid's  blush 
at  matron's  jest, 

And  dance  and  song 
and  generous  dower 

Are  in  the  shining 
grains  we  shower. 


VII. 


Scatter  the  wheat  for  shipwrecked  men, 
Who,  hunger-worn,  rejoice  again 
In  the  sweet  safety  of  the  shore. 

33 


And  wanderers,  lost  in  woodlands  drear, 
Whose  pulses  bound  with  joy  to  hear 
The  herd's  light  bell  once  more. 

34 


Freely  the  golden  spray  be  shed 
For  him  whose  heart,  when  night  comes  down 
On  the  close  alleys  of  the  town, 

Is  faint  for  lack  of  bread. 


35 


In  chill  roof  chambers,  bleak  and  bare, 
Or  the  damp  cellar's  stifling  air, 
She  who  now  sees,  in  mute  despair, 
Her  children  pine  for  food, 


Shall  feel  the  dews  of  gladness  start 
To  lids  long  tearless,  and  shall  part 
The  sweet  loaf,  with  a  grateful  heart, 
Among  her  thin,  pale  brood. 

36 


Dear,  kindly  Earth,  whose  breast  we  till ! 
Oh,  for  thy  famished  children,  fill, 

Where'er  the  sower  walks, 
Fill  the  rich  ears  that  shade  the  mould 
With  grain  for  grain,  a  hundredfold, 

To  bend  the  sturdy  stalks. 


VIII. 


Strew  silently  the  fruitful  seed, 
As  softly  o'er  the  tilth  ye  tread, 

For  hands  that  delicately  knead 
The  consecrated  bread. 


The  mystic  loaf  that  crowns  the  board, 
When,  round  the  table  of  their  Lord, 

Within  a  thousand  temples  set, 
In  memory  of  the  bitter  death 
Of  Him  who  taught  at  Nazareth, 

His  followers  are  met, 
And  thoughtful  eyes  with  tears  are  wet, 

As  of  the  Holy  One  they  think, 
The  glory  of  whose  rising,  yet 

Makes  bright  the  grave's  mysterious  brink. 
38 


IX. 


Brethren,  the  sower's  task  is  done. 
The  seed  is  in  its  winter  bed. 
Now  let  the  dark-brown  mould  be  spread, 

To  hide  it  from  the  sun, 
And  leave  it  to  the  kindly  care 
Of  the  still  earth  and  brooding  air. 


39 


As  when  the  mother,  from  her  breast, 
Lays  the  hushed  babe  apart  to  rest, 


And  shades  its  eyes  and  waits  to  see 
How  sweet  its  waking  smile  will  be. 


The  tempest  now  may  smite,  the  sleet 
All  night  on  the  drowned  furrow  beat, 


And  winds  that,  from  the  cloudy  hold, 
Of  winter  breathe  the  bitter  cold, 


Stiffen  to  stone  the  mellow  mould, 
Yet  safe  shall  lie  the  wheat ; 


Till,  out  of  heaven's  unmeasured 
blue, 


Shall  walk  again  the  genial  year, 


To  wake  with  warmth  and  nurse  with  dew, 
The  germs  we  lay  to  slumber  here. 


43 


Oh  blessed  harvest  yet  to  be ! 

Abide  thou  with  the  love  that  keeps, 
In  its  warm  bosom,  tenderly, 

The  life  which  wakes  and  that  which  sleeps 


44 


The  love  that  leads  the  willing  spheres 
Along  the  unending  track  of  years, 
And  watches  o'er  the  sparrow's  nest, 
Shall  brood  above  thy  winter  rest, 

And  raise  thee  from  the  dust,  to  hold 
Light  whisperings  with  the  winds  of  May, 


And  fill  thy  spikes 

with  living  gold, 
From  summer's 

yellow  ray, 
Then,  as  thy  garners 

give  thee  forth, 
On  what  glad  errands 

shalt  thou  go, 
Wherever,  o'er  the 

waiting  earth, 
Roads  wind  and 

rivers  flow  ! 

46 


The  ancient  East  shall  welcome  thee 
To  mighty  marts  beyond  the  sea, 


47 


And  they  who  dwell  where  palm-groves  sound 
To  summer  winds  the  whole  year  round, 
Shall  watch,  in  gladness,  from  the  shore, 
The  sails  that  bring  thy  glistening  store. 


